


blasphemous rumors

by EmberParagon



Category: Far Cry (Video Games), Far Cry 5, Far Cry: New Dawn
Genre: Blood and Violence, F/M, Graphic Description, Knifeplay, Suicide Attempt, kind of?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-30 18:51:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17834183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmberParagon/pseuds/EmberParagon
Summary: Rook reasoned that God must have a sick sense of humor. After all, she was at the mercy of the judgement of her worst enemy. But then again, it was only fair that Joseph judged her as she had judged him, with her guilty sinful soul and all. Who was she to speak of sin when her own soul was tainted with it?





	blasphemous rumors

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a post FC5/Pre-ND fic. Explores the relationship between Joseph and Rook, with the the intensity being kind of turned up to eleven considering how much they are in close quarters with each other. Beware for graphic mutilation (ie carving into skin, so I guess some sort of knifeplay).

Rook had no idea how long had passed in the bunker, but she was grateful for the day when Joseph finally released her from the handcuffs. 

Joseph and Rook would talk about their families in hushed whispers. It was almost therapeutic, talking about her little sister for the first time in a long time. She hoped that it was therapeutic for Joseph to talk about his daughter, wife, and his siblings. Even if he was talking to the person who ripped his family away from him. Even if she was talking to the one whose family had tortured her over and over again. Then again, they had no one else. Only each other. It made Rook want to laugh, and she could hear the melody of _Only You_ playing in the back of her head. 

“I had a little sister named Joy. She… isn’t around anymore.” A flash of her crumpled body on the bathroom floor, grief briefly overtaking her- _why didn’t you listen, Rook?_ Blood had been pooled on the tile, eerie silence destroyed by Rook's scream of grief. When she didn’t respond for a moment, Joseph tugged on her sleeve, preventing herself from drowning in the guilt of the memory. She wanted to drown in her guilt, in her sorrow. Hollow herself out with it so she could be whole again- but she knew that she was too weak to make herself whole again. Only Joseph could make her whole again, wash the sin from her soul.

“My child, what’s wrong?” Joseph’s gentle, scarred hands cupped her cheeks, his intense gaze boring into Rook’s soul. For a moment, he grounded her, and she wondered what it was about Joseph’s gaze that made her unravel so completely. Any reservations she once had about giving herself away to him had washed away- she remembered how _conflicted_ she had always felt while under his potent gaze. She hadn’t listened- he was _right, he was_ **_right._ ** She hadn’t listened to him before, but if she could wash the sin away from her soul by listening _then,_ maybe she could ease the guilt that wracked her soul so completely.

 “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she whispered, tears falling from red-rimmed eyes. She then leaned in to his touch, her head resting on his chest. His heartbeat was an anchor, steadying her soul and dulling the throbbing guilt that ached. His lips brushed against her forehead, offering a comforting touch among all the pain. “I… I’m not worthy of this. I’m _sorry…_ I…”

It was ironic, really. Her once mortal enemy being the one who was comforting her- not her friends, not the staunch allies that fought by her side. But the one who, from the beginning, had shown her gentleness and care that she _wanted_ to ignore, to push aside. She should have joined him- maybe then, she would have been a worthy soul, instead of one tainted by sin.

“Shh…” Joseph murmured, rocking her like one would a child. The way he touched her was so _intimate,_ so _close._ Normally, she would have shied away from his touch. He had always been that way, even upon their first meeting, that she didn’t care anymore. Rook knew Joseph’s soul, and he knew hers. So she would cry and cry into his chest, and he would be there to soothe the ache and quell the sin in her heart.

* * *

Rook had fallen asleep in Joseph’s arms from exhaustion, she realized as she roused from sleep. She numbly lifted her head from the bed, noticing that Joseph had left the room. A foggy grog settled over her, and she sat up, rubbing her eyes in an attempt to anchor herself to the waking world. She had seen Nick and Kim, with little baby Rye in her dream. They always came to her in her dreams, as did the rest of her friends. Sometimes the Seed siblings visited her in dreams, repeating their last words as she watched them die. Over and over again. Sleep was never a mercy, and Rook wondered if it ever would be again.

* * *

_“Deputy, you damned my family. You’re the reason we’re dead,” Nick snapped, pointing an accusatory finger towards Rook. Rook took a step back, shaking her hands and her head in response._

_“I…. I didn’t. I was… trying to help. I’m sorry.. I… I was weak. I couldn’t… See past my own anger. I couldn’t see past my… Sin.” Rook could feel the shock buckle her knees, sobs wracking her body. Joseph was right. John was right. Jacob was right. Faith was right.“I didn’t…I know.. I’m sorry. I should’ve…. I should’ve listened…. I’m too sinful.”_

_“I don’t want your excuses!” The malice that shone in Nick’s eyes made Rook’s blood run cold, gun cocked and directed at her forehead._

_“Please just… Kill me, if it’ll make you happy.” She looked up at Nick through half-lidded eyes, tears streaking down her face. “I’m sorry, I just…. I don’t know what else to say. Except that I made a mistake. Just… do what you have to do.”_

_“There’s nothing that I can do to you that will_ **_ever_ ** _make up for what you’ve done.”_

* * *

 

Rook tried to shake off the nightmare, the guilt aching deeper into her chest. _Nick would never say that to me…_ Then she thought of the terror the Ryes must have felt in any last moments, and she hugged her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. She could feel the release of tears at her eyes, her breaths shaking with every sob.

Then Joseph slowly walked into the room- _of course he could hear me-_ and wrapped an arm around Rook, shushing her softly. Rook obliged, beginning to draw in deep breaths. _In… Out… In… Out…_ And then she could feel Joseph rub slow circles on the small of her back, tethering her to the real world and numbing the guilt. Sometimes, his comfort made the guilt that ached throb worse ten times over, considering that he had been the victim of her sin. 

“Th.. Thank you, Joseph…” Rook choked, looking up from her knees and offering a weary smile. Joseph smiled wearily back, kissing the top of her head.

“Your soul can be saved, Deputy. I can save it. I can save _you.”_

“I… I know. I know that now.” _My soul can only be saved through death._ Rook remembered the handgun sitting on one of the tables, _hers._ In that moment, she knew what had to be done. To save her soul from sin, to finally cleanse her. 

Rook suddenly rose from the bed and walked over to her handgun, picking it up. “Joseph.. I need you to release me. _Please.”_

“No.” Despite his refusal, he took the gun from Rook’s hands, but then dismantled it and threw it to the side, letting it skitter against the ground.

“There’s no coming back from what I’ve done, Joseph. I killed your family, I’m the reason why so many people couldn’t be saved. I’m _sinful,_ the only way for my soul to be saved is through my death!” Rook shouted, falling to her knees. “I refused to see reason! How can I live with myself?”

“You’re seeing reason now. That’s reason enough for me not to release you.” Joseph carefully stepped forward, his posture commanding but also comforting. Cupping his hands on Rook’s cheeks, he softly smiled despite the despair shaking Rook to her core. "You are my family, first and foremost. I tried to help my family atone for their sins, but I failed. I will not fail with you." 

“But it’s too late! I can’t change what I’ve done! Neither can you, but you can at least make a new Eden! There’s no part in that for a sinner like me. There’s no part in this new world that I can play,” Rook continued, her body trembling as she sobbed. Rook pressed her hands to his, and Joseph could feel her trembling. "Please. Please, Joseph…. Please kill me. I can't take this anymore." 

“No. I won’t kill you. There _is_ a purpose for you. I have a plan for you, and so does God. You may not be able to see it, but God can,” Joseph replied quietly, sinking to his own knees and pressing his forehead to Rook’s, hands still cupped around her cheeks. Closing his eyes, he released a sigh. Rook clung to the hope that Joseph would suddenly change his mind. He had thought about killing her once, she knew that. But what made him change his mind? What made him think that  _she,_ of all people, would be worthy of his love? Of his family? 

“I…. Okay, Joseph. I’ll follow you. Always. I trust you...” Rook sighed after Joseph, letting his comforting touch quell the guilt slightly. Never would she have ever guessed that she would put her life, her soul into Joseph’s hands, but there seemed to be no better option. He had once said that he could save her, and he _had,_ so he could do it again. “I… I can never say sorry enough for what I’ve done. My sin got my friends killed, it got your family killed… I….”

“I won’t let your sin rule your life like it did my family’s.” Joseph’s fingers idly traced over the WRATH etched in Rook’s skin, still a fresh wound threatening to scar over, forever into her skin. His voice was always so soft, so comforting. So easy for her to get lost in the comfort he provided. “But there’s one thing you must do before you can begin to atone.”

Reaching for a knife on one of the bedside tables, Joseph pressed the hilt into Rook’s hand. Rook turned it over, looking up at Joseph with red-rimmed eyes. A dread settled into the pit of her stomach, realizing what Joseph wanted her to do, but then she released a shaky breath. Nodding, any dread was replaced with resolve. Rook  _had_ to do this. To be worthy of Joseph, to be worthy of His family. 

“Okay.”


End file.
